Biden Calls Newly-Elected US House Speaker McCarthy
Speaker-elect Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – US President Joe Biden held a phone conversation with the newly-elected US House of Representatives Speaker, Kevin McCarthy, on Saturday, to congratulate him on his appointment, the White House press service told journalists. Earlier on Saturday, Biden said in an official statement that he and First Lady Jill Biden were offering their congratulations to McCarthy on his election as Speaker of the House. “As I said after the midterms, I am prepared to work with Republicans when I can and voters made clear that they expect Republicans to be prepared to work with me as well. Now that the leadership of the House of Representatives has been decided it is time for that process to begin,” Biden said. In the early hours of Saturday morning, House lawmakers elected Republican Kevin McCarthy as speaker in the 15th round of votes, ending four days of deadlock that stalled the lower chamber from conducting business. McCarthy received 216 votes. Republicans hold a 222-212 majority in the House. A total of 21 Republicans voted in opposition to McCarthy over the course of 15 ballots, before negotiating a deal with the dissenters on House rules and other political matters. The House met on Tuesday in its first session of the 118th Congress, during which the majority party typically elects a speaker. However, opposition by a number of Republicans over the course of over a dozen ballots blocked McCarthy’s leadership bid for nearly four days. The situation marked the first time in a century that the House failed to elect a speaker on the first ballot, and the first time since 1859 the chamber took more than 10 ballots to come to a conclusion. Biden called the situation embarrassing, but said that it was not his problem.
